Paper Flower Wreath

Okay, first of all... I know it is not the BEST picture in the world :(  Soon guys, soon!  BUT, isn't it cute!!?  It was super simple (which seems to be a trend).  I had a small wreath on hand with no ideas.  When I made  my last entry I used a small paper flower for embellishment, which as you can see, transferred over to this project!  I added the burlap bow to the top then hot glued the small flowers around the rest.  It turned out quite nice.  You can't tell in the picture, but there is a sheen on the wreath because I used some spray glitter to give it some pop!  Ah, the joys of simple crafting.  Hopefully my next post will be the pumpkins Conner and I worked on this weekend!  

Happy Columbus Day y'all!

Ahhh, Holiday Season :)

I am so glad holiday season is here!  Since I lost all of my holiday decorations I am getting to start from scratch.  To some, that may sound daunting, but to me that sounds like opportunity!  With the idea of buying a new house that is much bigger than the one we are in now, I have developed so many ideas.  Holding myself back is proving extremely difficult!  I just keep crafting!! Plus, it doesn't help when you make OUTRAGEOUS finds at the local Home Depot.  I scored a basket full of what they called "trash".  When they trim the wood for other customers, they throw the scraps away! HOW DARE THEY!! Don't they know I can use them?! Well, they learned... I bought the entire cart of wood for $4... that is right $4!

 Have I mentioned that I will have an actual craft ROOM in the new house? :)  Can you tell I'm excited? Ha... understatement!  I will no longer have to work around dogs and kids and Jarrod!  Nor will I have to vacuum up all my craft dust every night!! Woo Hoo!

Anywho, here is what I worked on last night until midnight!

It turned out much different than I had originally planned, but I like it!  It was so simple, and I got everything for 50% off at my favorite local store :)  Hobby Lobby!  I took a thin wooden letter and decoupaged it with torn pages from a book. (yes I actually destroyed a book, ahhh!)  I made a little bow with burlap, a flower out of a book page, and then glued the leather rope around the edges...  Really was simple!  Jarrod even helped with the hot glue gun!  

Do not fret my fellow crafters, I am working on lots of fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving projects right now, I just have yet to finish them!  As you can see, I get distracted :)  I will have them up in plenty of time for you to copy them if you would like! 

Happy Crafting!

Mmm.. Sour Cream Chicken & a good book :)

My latest literature voyage has started.  George Bush's autobiography, Decision Points, and I must say it is wonderful thus far.

This book gives insight into so many aspects of events that affected our lives.  Aspects that I bet most of us didn't know existed, but influenced his decisions.  I have learned so much, and I am only through chapter 5. (They are pretty long chapters)  Jarrod enjoys the book too, although I think he might enjoy having me read to him more than the book itself :)  There are so many critics of George W. out there (I am not included... LOVE HIM) that should read this book.  Even if you disagree with his beliefs, policies, procedures, etc. it may help you understand that the decisions he made where not whimsical.  He has experts, administrators, Generals, Intelligence officers, so on and so forth, telling him what was good for the country and it's people whether they thought he would agree or not.  

I am not attempting a political persuasion, just offering food for thought.  It is a good read at least and a tool for understanding the former President, maybe even creating a little compassion, at best.

Now, I am sure you are tired of my ranting so here is the food!!

Looks pretty boring, yes.  It tasted phenomenal (if you don't like sour cream you may disagree).  I am dubbing this the Italian Sour Cream Chicken, creative I know!  It was rather simple, but I wanted something different.  A twist :)

I used the following:

4 chicken breast

2-3 tbs of sour cream

a dash of Tony's (I put this on EVERYTHING)

1/4 zesty Italian dressing

I marinated the chicken in the 2nd and 3rd ingredients Then cooked them over the stove at just above medium heat until they were cooked thoroughly.  Try not to flip them more than once if you want even browning.  When they were about 3/4 of the way done I added the Italian dressing to the pan.

I served it up with some green beans and Voila!  Simple :)  It took me about 10-15 mins in the kitchen and it was a really good (and somewhat healthy) meal!  Jarrod said the chicken was really tender!  Try it out and let me know what you think!

I'm Excited!!

I have officially started decorating for the Holidays :)  I am SUPER EXCITED!!  We went on a mini road trip this weekend and stopped at an orchard in Fredericksburg, TX.  We stopped there on vacation in June and loved the homemade peach ice cream so, of course, we stopped agian :)  I got some homemade peach ice cream, Jarrod got some fresh apples, and we picked out a WHITE pumpkin for part of the decorations.  We got some cute smaller ones too.  I will post pictures tonight when I get home.

While I have your attention, I must recommend Fredericksburg to anyone looking for a stay-cation!  They have so many wonderful things to do!  Their historic heart of town is beautiful and has lots of wonderful stores and restaurants.  We found some homemade candy last time we were there; Jarrod fell in love with the chocolate covered blueberries!  We are at a restaurant claiming the best burgers in town who did NOT disappoint, and this past weekend was Oktoberfest!! While we did not get out to enjoy the festivities (we had Jax and they clearly did not allow dogs) we still enjoyed the town.  If you love history like me, you should definitely check out the Pacific War Museum!  It has lots of powerful exhibits!

I could write an entire page about the wineries!  They say 290 is the second best location of wineries behind Napa Valley. To anyone who likes wine, hearing that makes you smile!  I believe there are 10 wineries withing a 20 mile stretch of HWY 290.  The one we have visited is Grape Creek.  The wine was fantastic and we really enjoyed the tour we got.  They teach you about the entire process and even take you to the cellar to taste the all the differences in how the wine is barreled and aged! It was fantastic!!

When you are out in Hill Country you can't help but enjoy the drive as well.  It is so beautiful!  We have decided we would love to live out there someday!

Enchanted Rock was really pretty!  It was sort of a last minute, "Hey, let's do that" sort of thing, but we enjoyed it!  We were a little ill-prepared since I had on a long sleeved shirt and Jarrod wore boots :(  We will be going back soon to conquer the summit though!

Anywho... I will give you some pictures to see what we enjoyed :)

Beautiful Hill Country :)

Homemade peach ice cream! (It really is delicious!)

Grape Creek Winery

Pacific War Museum

The summit at Enchanted Rock